After what has transpired in the past few months , the aforementioned statement is highly in peril of losing its credibility. From Google's new privacy policy to the Janlokpal back home, we find that new and complex methods are being devised to shackle the individual in chains that may not be even visible to him and out of which he cannot break even as an outlaw.

However, the case in point is that of Rushdie and how he was forced to not even appear virtually to those who wanted to hear him and that too in his own country. A nation cast out of the furnace of a long and turbulent history and fed by the blood and sacrifices of numerous sung and unsung heroes into a casting meant to uphold the humanest of the humane virtues of man had just failed itself.Hope of the east had lost, just as the west had lost. A nation based upon the ideals meant to invigorate the spirit of liberty, fraternity and justice decisively cast it out and handed it over to those having the urn of intolerance and fanaticism high above their heads. What have the Rushdies, Nasreens and Husains done to warrant such a treatment? Do we still live in the dark ages when Socrates had to to drink poison or Galileo had to assert that the sun moved around the earth in order to save his neck? Do all those lengthy and intricate charters and bills ensuring freedom of speech and liberty to naught more than pieces of shroud in which to wrap up the countries whom the big brothers believe to be a pain in their tender parts? Is it really true that the third world nations are living in not just an economic but also ideological divide separating them from their western counterparts?

Salman Rushdie is a name that rings alarm bells in the minds of most of the conventionalists. The name rakes up that spirit of rebellion which lies dormant in the innermost corners of perhaps the hearts of us all apart from sometimes even feeding upon the controversy that stems from it. Rushdie's brain lives in a symbiotic relationship with the creations that spring from it and unlike Tolstoy he looks in no mood to run away from those who are uncomfortable with both. His characters and the way he treats them is something that ought to be enjoyed rather than being denounced. He weaves out a mist of truth and fiction , a blend where one is inseparable from the other and which leaves those who come in contact with it in a dizzy euphoria.

The hue and cry over his allegedly foul and blasphemous ideas reeks of the unimaginative and dogmatic philosophy of those up in arms against him. Religion is based upon faith and if faith of one man leads him to believe that a stone houses an elephant god's essence or that a human being can be transformed into a he-goat then who is there to stop a man in theorizing that an angel was mistaken for the devil by the prophet? If at all it shows the mental bankruptcy of those attacking the propounder of such an idea. If Muhammad can be a prophet why can't Rushdie be one too? If he was directed by the heavens to set forth the rules for conduct of man, why can't heavens select another one to clarify what he had left unclear and that too considering the fact that all the heavens have their seeds in the minds of men? What we perceive, what we interpret is limited by our own limits and any attempt to communicate with what lies beyond our limits is sure to be ridden by our own riders that obstruct from us the elusive truth. An elaborate study of the theory of relativity may seem as the perfect cure for these fanatic crusaders. If one man can preach on a topic that doesn't prohibit another from teaching what he thinks on the same . It must also be kept in mind that creative minds soar above the nets and wires that are meant to keep the common man from reaching out into that dimension and making a mess of all that has so laboriously and painfully been created.

Is this phenomenon only peculiar to the historywont and religionwrecked nations of the east cloaked in the misty veil of traditions? No, the larger picture is far grimmer than just the issue of creative freedom. The improvements in technology and the developments of society are increasingly being used to probe into the innermost havens of human thought and create a society where everybody confirms to the given standards. The standards set by the system and certified by the mediocre segment of population that accounts for the majority of it . The communists are as dogmatic about the views of Marx as the Islamic fanatics are about the words of Muhammad. Big Uncle Sam has upped everyone's game by one envisaging newer methods and policies to even peep into the individual preferences and bending of our thoughts in order to evaluate the possible threat from individuals who want to shred the peaceful social fabric to pieces. Even your ideas your innermost desires and impulses are not safe from scrutiny and censorship anymore. The new society will not be of the far flung individuals free yet socializing in new and revolutionary ways to create the world of future, rather it would be a dominion of masses who won't be able to even breathe more than the sanctioned amount of air. To cater better to your individual preferences and choices says Google to the unsuspecting surfer. The worst part of it all will be that the outlaws the renegades this time won't even have Sherwood forest to run to.

What emerges out is a horrifying yet true picture of the modern world with all its comforts and amenities and behold the west is not wild too anymore! What they are trying to present is no more than political jugglery to show their shiny side to the world. The resounding verdict is loud and clear- think in the way that the sheep think or don't think at all, for if you think and want to hunt, we have better guns and nets to deal with the lions now!